Water
by ohbambi
Summary: Will remembers Emma's happiest time in the water, while Emma experiences her most devastating time in the water.


It wasn't so hard for Emma to get used to the water. Will urged her to at least dip a foot in. It took a few days while on their small vacation to completely submerge herself into the pool. It was a goal she and Will set for her. Will was thoroughly prepared, his camera with a waterproof case protecting it from being damaged in hand, ready to document his girlfriend's first time in a pool. At the time, for Emma, it seemed like Will was her protective coat and all that she needed. As she and him played in the water, all she could think of was how truly happy she could let herself be with this man. But that was a different time. Now, while she's still happy, she's happy with another man.

Carl tells her every day how beautiful she is. She actually believes him when he tells her that, too. She's comfortable calling him handsome in return and flirting with him. She's even comfortable in bed with Carl, something she always thought would be the biggest challenge for her. Having sex with her husband doesn't even come close to the obstacle that she faces every day. Something she didn't notice until Carl helped her get over her insecurities - Carl's own insecurities.

It's always the same bickering. Carl accuses Emma of thinking of Will, Emma is adamant that she's not.

Emma doesn't understand where all of this even came from. Carl was never like this before they were married. Although she knew he didn't particularly like it if she and Will spent time together, he was never jealous. Now, he's acting almost paranoid. Like he made a mistake asking her to marry him. Like he stole another man's woman.

Today marks one year since Emma went in a pool for the first time. She's come so far since then, it's almost hard to think that she's ever had problems. Will, in his loneliness, digs through his things in his apartment trying to get started on actually moving out. He never gets enough sleep but he always wakes up early hoping to make something of his summer days, but it always turns into another useless, wasted day. He mindlessly stares at the very video camera he used to record Emma in the water not remembering what he was looking at in that box. He only used it twice after that to take cute videos of them together, until she finally ended it for good for reasons he could only blame himself for. He finally realizes the happy memories that camera holds and immediately tries to turn it on. He finds that the batteries are dead, just like his summer days, and makes a mental note to buy new batteries.

"Let's go to the ocean" Emma whispers to Carl as he wakes up. The morning light shines through their bedroom window. He kisses her and laughs, confused.

"The ocean? Like a vacation?" He asks in response. Emma jumps up on top of him and excitedly lets out a small screech.

"Yes! Please, Carl, we'll have so much fun! We can get a romantic hotel with a beautiful view," she's convincing him, even though he knows their house is better than any hotel on a beach. "… we can even go in the ocean. We can do whatever _you_ like" She says in a sexy tone and leans down to kiss him. It doesn't take Carl all but two seconds to look into her gorgeous eyes and realize there's no way he could say no to such a beautiful woman.

"All right! When do you want to go? I'll have to check my appointments and…"

"Today!" She interrupts excitedly. She knows he has work, but she has more important work. To get their marriage back on track. He looks at her confused. There's no possible way this could happen today, it's the middle of the week, in the middle of the summer. All he can think of is kids and their teeth rotting popsicles. Emma lowers her head sadly as if she could read his mind, knowing he would say no.

Seeing his wife's disappointment, he turns the mood around and says "Okay," he smiles and adds "let's go have an adventure. I can't wait!" He kisses her on the temple and her sadness turns to complete shock and admiration for her husband. As she watches her love walk to the bathroom to shower, she's jumps off the bed and pulls off her top and asks to join. Just then Carl realizes he absolutely loves when Emma's the spontaneous one.

Obviously Carl has to top Emma in spontaneity so he tells Emma to prepare for a plane ride as opposed to a road trip. They arrive at the airport and he presents Emma with two tickets to Hawaii. He tells her it's about time they had their honeymoon. They're both so excited to let go of all their worries and just relax while enjoying each other.

She never knew she could be so in love.

It's the third night in paradise and it seems as though Carl is getting sick of all the happiness. He waits in the hotel kitchen for Emma to get out of the shower and contemplates how he's going to start off the conversation that he knows will lead to a fight. Emma finally approaches him and smiles lovingly and urgently at her husband, as if to tell him something important, but he is clearly in deep thought. "Is something wrong?" She asks, confused because they were perfectly happy earlier today. He looks at her in her beautiful dress. Her red hair looks perfect, and she is glowing. He doesn't even notice that she took a particularly long time in the bathroom. He is in awe but he doesn't take his time to speak his pondering thoughts.

"Listen, I know our love is real. I know you love me and God knows I love you so, so much. But I feel like when I asked you to marry me, you hung onto that for dear life, as if you were going to be taken away." Emma is so confused and she walks over to stand in front of Carl who is sitting down.

"Carl, what are you talking about? I said yes because I love you and I want to be with you forever" She says, almost pleading with him, "of course I held onto it for dear life. I wouldn't want to lose you. I love you!" She isn't lying, but she's purposely trying to be convincing because she doesn't want to have another fight, especially when they are doing so well.

"You love me, but you love Schuester too. And I know it because I know you didn't want to be with him after what he did to you so you married me to get back at him. Or so that I could be your rope pulling you back whenever you wanted to be with him again." Carl gets up, now angry and frustrated. Nothing he is saying is coming out right. All he knows is that Emma loves Will and only got married so she could get over him. At least that's what he convinced himself after months of thinking about it.

"God, Carl! Why would you ever think that? Are you really that insecure? Haven't I shown you how much I love you? You're the only man I want, why can't you see that?" Emma starts tearing up. She leans into her husband trying to get some comfort, but he pushes her away by her hips. He doesn't let go right away. He takes a moment to look at her face, and then at her body and even thinks she looks different now. He can't stand this. Since he actually said all of this out loud, he actually realizes it's the truth. She is a different woman than he thought he married. It's not worth it to him to even try anymore. He doesn't want to waste any more of their time.

"I can't believe you would let me fall for you and marry you when you've wanted Schuester the whole time," He rubs his face and walks into the bedroom to pack his suitcase "I want a divorce. I'm sorry, Emma, I just can't be married to someone who I know for a fact has feelings for someone else." Emma doesn't want to plead, but she swallows her pride and the tears start flowing.

She takes a hold of his arm trying to stop him from packing, and he yanks away and walks into the bathroom to gather more of his things. This is all happening so fast and Emma doesn't know what to do. "Please, Carl! Please, I have something to tell you! Just listen!"

"Emma, I know you're going to say you love me, and I know you do. That's not the point..." Carl trails off because he notices an empty pregnancy test box on the counter as he reaches for his razor. Emma is assertive, pulling him and she doesn't even notice the wet floor. She forgot to put a towel down after her shower, but she was too preoccupied to care at the time. It seems like slow motion to her at this point. He pushes her forcefully, but she doesn't let go. She falls, bringing him down with her. The razor flies in the air, landing on Emma's face, cutting the porcelain colored skin from her cheek bone to her bottom lip. Carl's head hits hard on the large jacuzzi bath tub, and he sees Emma's scared face. The last time he sees her face.

"Carl!" Blood is slowly covering the bathroom floor. She holds him and hysterically cries. "Carl, I'm pregnant! God, please! Oh, God!" She just holds him and weeps, telling him he's going to have a child. Talking to him, yelling, begging for him to hear her. She lets go of him and leans against the wall. Every single bad habit , OCD tendency, and mysophobic way she's ever had comes rushing back to her. She looks at the blood through her foggy tears and feels disgusting. She holds her knees and bangs the back of her head against the wall. She can barely breathe.

She never knew she could be so heart broken.

Will finally got around to going to the grocery store during the day. He gets home and turns on the lights and sees his almost empty apartment. He places his bags on the counter and pulls out the new batteries. Without even thinking about it, he gets the camera and swaps the batteries. He turns on the video camera and the happy memories grace him.

Emma pulls herself up off of the floor and goes outside to the pitch black night. She leads herself to the water which is right outside the back door of the private hotel room. Right before she steps into the ocean, she looks at the violent waves. She makes her decision.

Will watches the screen and sees Emma dip her foot into the water. She smiles and laughs at the jokes Will is telling. "Will, you have to do this with me, you promised!" Will watches as the camera gets shaky because he jogs over to her and points the camera at the both of them to give her a kiss. He hears himself say "There you go, Emma! You're doing great! Now just a little more, there you go!" and encourages her. He sees that the water is up to her waist and they are both splashing and laughing. She goes in more until they're both in the deep end.

Emma goes deeper into the ocean and the waves are crashing into her stomach, sweeping her off her feet. Maybe a storm is coming, but she doesn't care. She is so hopeless, she doesn't even care to live. The only purpose for her living is for her unborn baby, but that's not what she's thinking about right now. She goes farther and farther until the waves are hitting her face forcefully, the salt water stinging her fresh wound. She is swallowing the water that is crashing into her mouth, choking, not being able to touch the ocean floor. Not being able to save herself or her baby.

Will is crying while he watches Emma under water in the video. She is waving at the camera while plugging her nose and smiling. He watches her kiss him under water. He sees on the camera that all of their cares were being washed away. He stops watching and thinks what Emma's doing right now. Maybe she's swimming under the stars with Carl somewhere. He thinks even deeper. He realizes that even though he helped Emma get into the water, Carl helped her accomplish much more. Carl is just better than him. He looks down at the camera screen and sees that he's splashing Emma's face playfully. He hears Emma's laughs and her playful screams and knows he'll never be able to have those happy moments with her again.

Emma regrets going into this disastrous water and thinks for a second how easy it was the first time. It was only a pool. No dangers. There was nothing to be afraid of. But now, there is danger, and she's trying desperately to swim and get air, but she's just swallowing more water, drowning and critically trying to save herself. It's so dark under water that she can't see the waves as they come, so they surprise her by knocking the wind out of her so she can't breathe. She cries harder and tries to scream but she can't get a full breath. No one can hear as the waves fill her mouth. She thinks of her baby. A life she was just so careless with and barely thought of when she decided to put herself in danger. She immediately panics even more at the thought of her precious child and tries to swim but the waves are too strong. The biggest wave of the night comes, crushing her against the ocean floor, taking her last breath, washing her away.

Will wipes his last tear, closes the camera, and decides it's time to move on.


End file.
